Arctic's Melting Could Cost The World Economy Trillions Of Dollars

First Posted: Apr 26, 2017 05:10 AM EDT

A new study indicates that the Arctic's quickening melting may cost the world economy trillions of dollars in this century. It causes damages to buildings and roads from Siberia to Alaska.

Its quickening thaw is liquefying the permafrost under the roads and buildings. It also heightens the world sea levels and upsets the temperature patterns up to the south. The study notes that the Arctic is warming faster than any other places on the planet Earth. This triggers warmer temperature, wetter and more changeable environment, according to Independent.

The study is participated by about 90 scientists, who were appointed by the Arctic Council. The researchers are urging the governments to cut the greenhouse gas emissions. The said report stresses that the increasing greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are the chief primary cause.

The report also put emphasis on the cumulative net cost of the Arctic warming. It may be between US$7 trillion and US$90 trillion from 2010 to 2100. This includes the damage exceeding benefits like the easier access to oil and gas exploration and shipping, according to Newstalk ZB.

The years between 2011 to 2011 are considered the warmest since recording started in 1900. The most alarming thing is that the sea ice on the Arctic Ocean that could vanish in summers by the 2030s. Lars-Otto Reirsen, the head of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) and one of the authors of the report, said that the Arctic is continually melting rapidly than expected in 2011.

Likewise, NASA scientist Walt Meier said that there was new proof that the thickest Arctic sea ice was melting since 2011. He further said that it is just like a large thick ice cube against a bunch of crushed ice. He explained that when you warm the water, the broken ice dissolves real fast. The report suggested that Arctic states and those interested in the region should implement to the fullest the Paris Agreement in 2015 to reduce the Arctic warming.